Elvis

It chronicles the life of the American rock and roll singer and actor Elvis Presley under the management of Colonel Tom Parker. It stars Austin Butler and Tom Hanks as Presley and Parker, respectively, with Olivia DeJonge, Helen Thomson, Richard Roxburgh, David Wenham, Kodi Smit-McPhee, and Luke Bracey in supporting roles.

A biographical film about Elvis Presley was first announced in 2014, with Luhrmann set to direct, but the project languished in development hell until early 2019, when Hanks joined the film. Butler was cast in the title role that July, beating out several other actors including Miles Teller and Harry Styles. Filming began in Australia in January 2020 but was put on hiatus in March after Hanks tested positive for COVID-19 at the onset of the pandemic. Production resumed in September, wrapping in March 2021.

Elvis premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on May 25, 2022, and was released in Australia on June 23 and in the United States on June 24, by Warner Bros. Pictures. It was a commercial success, grossing over $288 million worldwide against an $85 million budget. It also received generally positive reviews from critics, with Butler’s performance garnering widespread acclaim alongside Luhrmann’s direction, the cinematography, costume design, production design, and musical sequences also receiving praise, though the script, 160-minute runtime, and Hanks’ performance polarized critics. The American Film Institute named Elvis one of the top-ten films of 2022. Elvis received eight nominations at the 95th Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor for Butler, among numerous other accolades. A stage adaptation, with Luhrmann attached as a producer, is in development.

Raised mostly by his doting mother Gladys, Elvis spends his childhood in the poorest parts of Tupelo, Mississippi, finding solace in music and the comic book adventures of Captain Marvel Jr. After moving with his parents to Memphis, he is ridiculed by his peers due to his fascination with the African-American music of Beale Street. Parker, at the time a carnival “huckster,” manages country singer Hank Snow but realizes Elvis’ crossover potential when he hears “That’s All Right,” initially assuming that the artist is black. That night, after witnessing his intense sex appeal at a “Louisiana Hayride” performance, Parker invites Elvis to accompany him on a tour and convinces Elvis to let him take control of his career, which begins Elvis’ meteoric ascent: he moves from Sun Records to RCA Records, his father Vernon is appointed as business manager of Elvis Presley Enterprises, and the family is lifted out of poverty.

The regional public is divided in their view of the singer. Feeling that Elvis’s music will corrupt white children and stoke racial hostility, segregationist Southern Democrat Mississippi Senator James Eastland calls Parker to an informal hearing and probes his mysterious past. When Elvis flouts the authorities’ warnings and performs sexually charged dance moves at a concert, he faces legal trouble. Parker persuades the government to draft Elvis into the U.S. Army instead of penalizing him. Elvis returns from basic training only to be devastated upon discovering his mother’s alcohol-induced death. During his military service in West Germany, Elvis meets 14-year-old Priscilla Beaulieu, the teenage daughter of a United States Air Force pilot. After his discharge, he embarks on a film career and later marries Priscilla.

As the popular culture of the 1960s passes Elvis by, the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy in 1968 devastate him. Although he wants to become more politically outspoken in his music, Parker has booked a family-friendly Christmas television special where he will only perform frivolous feel-good songs. Elvis works with Steve Binder to re-imagine the special, and his performance choices, including the closing song “If I Can Dream,” incorporates not only a review of his past songs but also political commentary. Infuriated corporate sponsors threaten litigation, while Parker believes Elvis has been “brainwashed by hippies.” Nevertheless, the show is highly successful.

Afterward, Elvis headlines at the largest showroom in Las Vegas, the International Hotel, and resumes concert tours. Parker’s control of Elvis’s life tightens as he refuses Elvis’s request for a world tour. Motivated by gambling debts, Parker manipulates Elvis into signing a contract for a five-year Las Vegas casino residency. Elvis’ problematic behavior and prescription drug addiction overtakes him, and a despondent Priscilla divorces him on his 38th birthday, taking their daughter Lisa Marie with her. After discovering that Parker cannot leave the country because he is a stateless illegal immigrant, Elvis attempts to fire him. Parker subsequently informs Vernon that the family owes him an $8.5 million debt accumulated over the years and convinces Elvis of their symbiotic relationship; though the pair rarely see each other afterward, Parker continues as his manager.

Increasingly exhausted after a continuously rigorous schedule of shows, Elvis expresses to Priscilla his fear of being forgotten after death, as he believes he has achieved nothing worthwhile. Parker finishes his recollection, remembering one of his final shows on June 21, 1977. In Rapid City, South Dakota, an obese and pale Elvis, unable to stand up, sings “Unchained Melody” and ends the performance to thunderous applause. Elvis dies a couple of months later on August 16, 1977; in Parker’s estimation, what really killed Elvis was neither his heart attack nor drug-related suicide as some believe, but rather his love for his fans. At the same time, Parker also dies impoverished and alone in the hospital, having gambled away the rest of his ill-gotten fortune.

A closing statement additionally explains that a series of lawsuits in the 1980s exposed Parker’s financial abuse of Elvis, with Parker settling out of court and cutting his ties to the Presley estate after failing to claim immunity as a stateless person. Elvis Presley remains the best-selling solo artist in history, beloved by millions worldwide even decades after his death.